April 25th in History

Michael Dobson | April 25

First guillotine execution, April 25, 1792

Today in History

  • The Peloponnesian War ends with Sparta and its allies defeating the Athenian empire (404 BCE)
  • The first execution by guillotine takes place (1792 CE)
  • The French national anthem, La Marseillaise, is composed (1792 CE)
  • Charles Fremantle and HMS Challenger reach western Australia (1829 CE)
  • The groundbreaking ceremony for the Suez Canal takes place (1859 CE)
  • Spanish-American War: The US declares war on Spain (1898 CE)
  • New York becomes the first US state to require license plates on automobiles (1901 CE)
  • World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins (1915 CE)
  • World War II: US and Soviet troops meet along the River Elbe (1945 CE)
  • World War II: The Nazi occupation army in Northern Italy surrenders; the puppet fascist regime dissolves, and Benito Mussolini flees (1945 CE)
  • The United Nations conference in San Francisco begins (1945 CE)
  • Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish their first article on the double helix structure of DNA (1953 CE)
  • Party chairman Ю́рий Андро́пов (Yuri Andropov) invites American schoolgirl Samantha Smith to visit the Soviet Union as a result of her letter about nuclear war (1983 CE)
  • Pioneer 10 crosses the orbit of Pluto (1983 CE)

Birthdays

  • Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector (1599)
  • Guglielmo Marconi, telegraphy pioneer (1874)
  • William J. Brennan, Jr., supreme jurist (1906)
  • Edward R. Murrow, radio and television journalist (1908)
  • Mort Weisinger, comic book editor (1915)
  • Ella Fitzgerald, singer (1917)
  • Robert Q. Lewis, game show host (1920)
  • Albert King, blues guitarist (192)
  • Paul Mazursky, filmmaker (1930)
  • Meadowlark Lemon, globetrotting basketball player (1932)
  • Al Pacino, actor (1940)
  • Talia Shire, actress (1946)
  • Dominique Strauss-Kahn, economist (1949)
  • Dinesh D’Souza, political commentator (1961)
  • Hank Azaria, actor and voice artist (1964)
  • Renée Zellweger, actress (1969)

Deaths

  • Anders Celsius, temperature namesake (1744)
  • William Cowper, poet (1800)
  • Anna Sewell, Black Beauty author (1878)
  • George Herriman, Krazy Kat cartoonist (1944)
  • George Sanders, actor (1972)
  • Clifford D. Simak, science fiction writer (1988)
  • Valerie Solanas, author and activist (1988)
  • Art Fleming, game show host (1995)
  • Ginger Rogers, actress, singer, dancer (1995)
  • David Merrick, filmmaker (2000)
  • Bobby “Boris” Pickett, singer-songwriter (2007)
  • Bea Arthur, actress (2009)
  • Dorothy Provine, actress, singer, dancer (2010)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand)
  • Arbor Day (Germany)
  • DNA Day (scientific community)
  • Flag Day (Faroe Islands and Swaziland)
  • Freedom Day (Portugal)
  • Liberation Day (Italy)
  • Malaria Awareness Day (worldwide)
  • Military Foundation Day (North Korea)
  • Parental Alienation Awareness Day (Canada, Bermuda, 17 US states)
  • Red Hat Society Day (Red Hat Society, worldwide)
  • Robigalia (ancient Rome)
  • Sinai’s Liberation Day (Egypt)
Informal and made-up holidays include East Meets West Day (US sports teams), Hug a Plumber Day, National Hairball Awareness Day, National Zucchini Bread Day, Malaria Awareness Day, and World Penguin Day.
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April 25 is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years). There are 250 days remaining until the end of the year.